The human heart is a hollow muscular organ, responsible for pumping a large volume of blood around the human body every day. The ability to pump the blood is facilitated by several heart valves which open and close appropriately to allow blood passage through the heart. Heart valve dysfunction through natural defects or through the increasing incidence of heart disease, often requires the dysfunctional valve to be treated, with the main treatment modalities being mechanical adjustment of the valve or replacing the valve altogether. Current medical techniques are aimed at moving away from the major open heart surgery procedure, which is very traumatic for the patient, to more minimally invasive catheter based procedures, which are less traumatic, although more complicated procedures.
Catheter based procedures require precise positioning of the catheter, used to deliver for example the replacement valve, in an optimal position in relation to the cardiac valve to be treated. This is especially important as misalignment has the potential to damage adjacent cardiac structures leading to severe coronary complications. Placement of the catheter adjacent to a heart valve is hampered by the fact that the heart continues to pump throughout the procedure, giving rise to significant levels of turbulence which the catheter has to overcome to maintain its position.
Hence, improved or alternative medical devices and procedures for stabilizing the introducer sheath during cardiac valve replacement would be advantageous, in particular allowing for increased cost-effectiveness, and/or patient safety.